Apparatus for the heat-treatment of textile materials



March 4, 1969 H. FLEISSNER ET AL 3,430,355

APPARATUS FOR THE HEAT-TREATMENT OF TEXTILE MATERIALS Filed March '21,1967 In Vania/3.

HEINZ FLGISSNEE 4 GERoLD FLEISQNGR ge tbs flTfol NEYS 2 March 4, 1969 H.FLEISSNER ET AL 3,430,355

APPARATUS FOR THE HEAT-TREATMENT 0F TEXTILE MATERIALS Filed March 2:,1967 Sheet 3 of 2 In venfom' lie/NA cas; NGE

66204.1) Fianna/c2 BY 4 R'I otMCYJ v United States Patent 3,430,355APPARATUS FOR THE HEAT-TREATMENT GF TEXTILE MATERIALS Heinz Fleissnerand Gerald Fleissner, Egelsbach, near Frankfurt am Main, Germany,assignors to Vepa AG, Basel, Switzerland Filed Mar. 21, 1967, Ser. No.624,887 Claims priority, application Germany, Mar. 21, 1966,

23 Claims Us. (:1. 34-122 rm. Ci. F2611 11/04 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREThe present disclosure relates to an apparatus for the heat-treatment oftextile materials, such as for example, drying, steaming, fiber anddyestuff setting, curing and polymerizing synthetic resins, etc.,wherein the fan drives are arranged outside the heat-treatment housingand the fan shaft is not supported in the housing of the apparatus butrather outside said housing by bearing means.

sieve drum rotatably disposed within said housing, fan

means correlated to the faces of sieve drum, the fan drives for said fanmeans being arranged outside. the

treatment housing.

Apparatus comprising sieve drums subjected to a suction draft are wellknown wherein fan wheels are coaxially correlated to the faces of thesieve drums for exhausting the treatment medium out of the sieve drums.Since these fan wheels operate at very high speeds, the fan shaft, inknown devices, is supported in close proximity to the fan wheel, thatis, the fan shaft is supported in the housing of the heat-treatmentapparatus. This disposition of the fan shaft supporting means isdisadvantageous in that the fan bearings are exposed to elevatedtreatment temperatures necessitating extended stoppages to permit theapparatus to cool down before repair work can be commenced. Thus, forexample, when it is necessary to replace a bearing, the heat-treatmentprocess must be stopped and the apparatus must be allowed to cool downbefore repair work on the apparatus can begin.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to avoid theseprior art disadvantages in heat-treatment apparatus.

Another object of the present invention is to improve the economy ofheat-treatmentapparatus by eliminating the cooling down period necessarywhen performing maintenance and repair work on the fan drives.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improvedapparatus for the heat-treatment of textile materials wherein the fandrives and the associated bearing means and adjusting devices thereforare disposed outside of the treatment chamber.

Other objects and further scope of applicability of the presentinvention will become apparent from the detailed description givenhereinafter; it should be understood, however, that the detaileddescription and specific examples, while indicating preferredembodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only,since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope ofthe invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from thisdetailed description.

Summary of the invention According to the present invention, it has beenfound that a more effective apparatus for the heat-treatment of textilematerials can be obtained by locating the fan drives outside of thetreatment housing. According to the present invention, the fan shaft issupported on two separate pillow blocks or block bearings outside of thedryer housing thus permitting easy accessibility for servicing thebearings while the apparatus is being operated. Furthermore, it is nolonger necessary to let the apparatus cool down before replacing one orboth bearings. In performing maintenance work on presently used sievedrums which operate at treatment temperatures of about 200 C. andhigher, it is necessary to provide for a cooling down period of at leastabout one hour. According to the present invention, the bearings can nowbe replaced in a minimum of time, generally less than about ten minutesdue to the. lower environmental temperatures they are exposed to as wellas the ready accessibility of the bearings themselves.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the fanbearings and the bearings of the fan motor can be combined into a singleunit by mounting said hearings to a drive. box which also supports thefan motor. For example, the fan motor may be disposed beneath the fanbearing so that no additional space is required except that normallyused by the fan motor. In order to prevent the bearings from overheatingdue to the heat of conduction by the fan shaft, the apparatus of thepresent invention also provides for a disc containing cooling coilswhich is mounted to the shaft outside of the housing. This disc providesa means for cooling the fan shaft and the bearings and additionally andsimultaneously produces a current of air which flows around the fanmotor thus cooling it. In general, the fan motor and the fan shaft areconnected by V-belts. For tensioning and retensioning the V-belts, themotor which is attached to the drive box is adjustably supported to thefan shaft. Thus, by operating an adjustable screw located on the outsideof a casing means which encloses the fan drives, the fan motor can beadjustably moved toward or away from the fan shaft. As just stated, itis advantageous to provide all fan driving units outside of thetreatment housing with a protective casing which is preferablyperforated. Such a casing does not only offer protection to theoperators but also improves the overall appearance of the apparatus.

In order to facilitate maintenance, especially the replacement of thebearings, it is also desirable to provide in the fan chamber and/oroutside the fan chamber adjustable supporting means for supporting thefan wheel and/ or the fan shaft in the case of assembly work.Accordingly, two tubes or rails which are vertically adjustable beneaththe fan wheel are arranged for supporting the fan wheel. It is alsodesirable if the adjusting means for the supporting elements can beoperated from outside of the treatment housing or if a door is providedin the housing near the adjusting device to provide for easyaccessibility and operation thereof. If the adjusting means is operatedfrom outside the treatment housing, a reversible ratchet with a leverarm extending through a sealed aperture in the frame supporting therails can be provided as shown in FIGURE 6. However, it is advantageousif the actuating elements and/ or at least one actuating element of theadjusting means, for example, the set screws or the handwheel, isdisposed outside of the housing so that the apparatus need not be openedfor supporting the fan wheel.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the fan shaft can besupported to facilitate the replacing of the bearings. For this purpose,a bearing block which is advantageously adjustable in the verticaldirection is provided in the housing, and outside the housing a clampingdevice which can be composed of two adjustable parts is disposed at thefan shaft. After mounting the fan wheel, the bearing block may beadjusted so that it is situated beneath the fan shaft and provided witha small amount of play relative thereto so that in case of repair workthe bearing block need not be lifted. The two components of the clampingdevice provided outside of the treatment housing are adjustablyconnected to each other by screw means and are extended from each otherand from the fan shaft by means of spiral springs circumferentiallydisposed around said screw means. By tightening the screw means the twocomponents of the clamping device are moved toward each other and thefan shaft is fixed thereby.

Whereas the outer bearing of the fan shaft can be easily removed afterremoving the V-belt, it is often advantageous to design the bearing ofthe fan shaft at the housing as a two-part pillow block and to supportthe lower bearing part in such a manner that it can be readily lowered.For example, the base supporting the 'bearing can be further supportedby a bracket which is adjustably attached to the housing wall.

Brief description of the drawin'gs The present invention will becomefully understood from the detailed description hereinbelow and theaccompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only andthus are not limitative of the present invention and wherein,

FIGURE 1 is a cross-sectional view of a sieve drum dryer according tothe present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a section of the fan wheel bearing of the present invention;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of the supporting means of the fan wheelaccording to FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a profile view of the fan wheel with supporting means withthe insulation of the housing removed;

FIGURE 5 is a section view of another fan wheel bearing according to thepresent invention;

FIGURE 6 is a section view along line 6-6 of the embodiment according toFIGURE 5.

FIGURE 7 is a detailed view illustrating how the lower shell of thebearing can be lowered.

Description of the preferred embodiments Referring now to the drawingswherein like reference numerals are used throughout the various views todesignate like parts, the apparatus of the present invention comprises ahousing 1 which is subdivided by a partition 2 into a treatment chamber3 with sieve drums 4 subjected to a suction draft, and a fan chamber 5with a fan wheel 6 correlated to the face of each sieve drum. Heaters 7are arranged above and beneath the fan wheel. At one longitudinal sideof the sieve drum, drives 8 are provided for the sieve drums 4, and atthe other longitudinal side a drive 9 for the fan wheels 6 is provided.These sieve drums can be arranged in one row or in two rows staggered toeach other.

According to the embodiments of the present invention, the fan wheel issupported unilaterally on a fan shaft 10. The fan shaft 10 is supportedby means of two separate pillow blocks (bearings) 11 and 12 which, inFIGURE 2, are mounted to a drive box 13. Furthermore, a fan motor 14 isadjustably supported to the fan shaft 10 on the drive box 13 by setscrew 13a. By using this adjustable support for the fan motor 14, asimple tensioning and retensioning of V-belts 15 is ensured. For coolingthe fan shaft 10' and the bearings 11 and 12, .a disc 16 with coolingcoils is disposed on the fan shaft just outside of the treatmenthousing. All of the driving parts are covered by a perforated casing 17which is set up on the drive box 13 and in some cases attached orscrewed thereto.

For supporting the fan wheel 6, especially when replacing bearings 11and 12, rails 18 are provided beneath the fan wheel, said rails beingslidably supported and adjustable in height in frame 19. A handwheel 20serves for adjusting the height of each rail 18. The two handwheels 20may be operated from the outside through a door 21 provided in thetreatment housing. The door can also be offset toward the inside andafixed to the frame 19 as shown in FIGURE 2 to provide ready access tohandwheel 20. This modification is shown as 21a in FIG- URE 2. Forbetter heat insulation, a sheet 22 is mounted to frame 19.

In the apparatus of the present invention according to FIGURES 5 and 6,supporting elements are provided for supporting the fan shaft 10. In thecase of this embodiment a bearing block 24 which can be adjusted in thevertical direction by means of screws 23 is disposed just beneath thefan shaft 10 in the fan chamber 5. The bearing block 24 can also beraised and lowered in the vertical direction together with thesupporting beams carrying the same. The screw bolt 34 is rotatable withrespect to the cross bearer member 35 (transverse girder) of the frame19 but is positioned so as to be axially non-displaceable with respectthereto. However, the screw bolt is axially displaced during a rotationwith respect to the supporting beam 36 under the bearing block 24, thuseffecting the raising and lowering of the supporting beam whose threadis in engagement with the thread of the screw bolt. When adjusting thebearing block from the outside, a reversible ratchet 32 with a lever arm31 extending through a sealed aperture 33 in the frame supporting therails can be provided as shown. The opening in the frame wall 19 is solarge that the lever 31 is adapted to execute any kind of pivotingmovements. A rubber sleeve 37 seals the opening. Outside the housing, atwocomponent clamping device 25a and 25b is provided between disc 16 andbearing 11. The upper bridge-shaped part 25a is connected with the lowerpart 25b by means of two screws 26. Screw springs 27 are slipped aroundthe screws, said springs supporting the upper part 25a of the clampingdevice so that it does not come into contact with the fan shaft 10.However, if the screws 26 are tightened, the upper component 25a of theclamping device is forced against the fan shaft 10 and the shaft isaccordingly fixed. In this embodiment of the present invention the lowerportion of the bearing 11 is supported on a base 28 which is furthersupported on a bracket 29 which is adjustably attached to the housingwall by setscrew 30, so that it can be lowered for ready replacement ofthe bearing ring (see FIGURE 7).

Since modifications of the present invention will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to theexact constitution shown and described. Accordingly, all suitablemodifications and equivalents may be resorted to which fall within thescope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. An apparatus for the treatment of textile materials which comprises ahousing, at least one cylindrical sieve drum rotatably disposed withinsaid housing, fan wheel means correlated to the faces of said sievedrum, said fan wheel means containing a fan shaft supported outside ofsaid housing and a fan drive disposed outside of said housing, said fanwheel means being supported by adjustable supporting means duringassembly.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the fan shaft is supported by twobearing blocks.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the bearing blocks and a fan motorare supported by a drive box.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the bearing blocks are divided intotwo portions and are supported by a vertically adjustable bracket meanswhich is attached to the housing wall, thereby providing for loweringthe lower portion of the bearing blocks.

5. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the fan motor which is attached tothe drive box is adjustably disposed relative to the fan shaft.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a disc means provided with coolingcoils is attached to the fan shaft outside of the treatment housing forcooling the bearing and the fan shaft.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein all of the fan driving unitsdisposed outside of the treatment housing are enclosed in a casingmeans.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein during assembly work the fan shaftis supported by adjustable supporting means.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a height-adjustable bearing blocklocated inside of the housing and a clamping means disposed outside ofthe housing are provided for supporting the fan shaft.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein said clamping means comprises anupper and a lower portion connected by spring-extended screw means.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the adjustable supporting meansare rail means which are adjustable in the vertical direction anddisposed beneath the fan wheel means for supporting said fan wheelmeans.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the adjusting means for thesupporting means are located outside of the treatment housing.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein at least one actuating element ofthe adjusting means is disposed outside of the treatment housing.

14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein a door is positioned in thehousing adjacent the adjusting means for an easier operation of saidadjusting means,

15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the adjusting means is ahandwheel.

16. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the adjusting means is a setscrew. I

17. An apparatus for the treatment of textile materials which comprisesa substantially closed housing, at least one sieve drum means rotatablydisposed within said housing, fan wheel means disposed at one end of thesieve drum means, said fan wheel means containing a fan shaft which iscoaxially disposed with respect to the sieve drum means and extendsthrough the wall of the housing, means for supporting the fan shaft onthe outside of the housing, fan drive means disposed outside of thehousing and communicating with said fan shaft, and adjustable supportingmeans for supporting the fan wheel means during assembly, saidadjustable supporting means comprising rail means which are verticallyadjustable and disposed beneath the fan wheel means in the housing forsupporting said fan wheel means.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the rail means are supported by aframe which is attached to the inside of the housing wall.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein means are provided inside thehousing near the housing wall for raising or lowering the adjustablesupporting means.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the housing wall is providedwithin a door near the adjustable supporting means for readyaccessibility to the supporting means.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the door means is offset towardthe inside of the housing and aflixed to the frame, thereby providingready access to the means for raising or lowering the adjustablesupporting means.

22. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the fan shaft is supportedoutside of the housing by bearing blocks.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the bearing blocks are dividedinto two portions and are supported by a vertically adjustable bracketmeans which is attached to the housing wall, thereby providing forlowering the lower portion of the bearing blocks.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,276,614 3/1942 Grapp 230-2092,335,508 l1/l943 Gustafsson et a1. 230-117 XR 2,656,973 10/ 1953Sutherland 230-209 3,094,273 6/1963 Hull et a1 230-117 XR 3,149,004 9/1964 Fleissner 34-115 XR JULIUS E. WEST, Primary Examiner.

ALLAN D. HERRMANN, Assistant Examiner.

U.S. C1. X.R.

